Hudson sat at his desk with Freddy's belongings in front of him. Books, music, a few pictures. He was supposed to send it all to UEO headquarters to be given to her next of kin. He didn't want to. He didn't understand why he wouldn't, couldn't seal up the box and send it. He cared for Freddy, sure. He cared for all of his crew. But Freddy was special. Hudson tried to reconcile the feelings in his heart. Love? Did he love Freddy? He thought about Elaine. Sure he had loved her once… twice…hell maybe even a third time. Elaine sparked a fire in his soul- and other areas. Mostly she sparked the fire that was his temper. Freddy didn't do that. He had never been sexually attracted to her, but he cared about her more than he did his other crewmen. He'd always thought it was because she was his best student. Now he wondered if it was something else. Piccolo was fast becoming one of his best students, and one of the best crewman he'd ever had serve under or with him. But he didn't feel this way about Piccolo. He cared, and he'd be upset if Piccolo died. But he'd probably get the Wolenczak kid to clean out his junk, and would send it to the family without a second thought. Maybe it was just because he'd known Freddy longer, because they had been friends. But that wasn't it either. He'd lost plenty of friends over the years and none had hit him this…hard.

Finally it dawned on him. He did love Freddy. Not in a romantic way, or a friendly way. Hudson finally identified the kind of love he had for her. A tear escaped his normally stone face, and then another, and another until he was crying. He thought about a few weeks earlier when Freddy had cried for the first time in four years – and he cried harder. She was finally getting her life back and it had been lost. But the thing that made Hudson cry the most, was the realization that the love he felt for Freddy had been that of a father, and what he was feeling was not only the loss of a daughter but the regret of never telling her how much she meant to him.